(CMR) The Water Authority has introduced a new statutory fee which will be seen on customers' bills starting this month; however, this will not cause an increase in the bill amount, the Authority has said.
“Although the statutory fee will be shown as an additional line item on the Water Authority’s water customer bill, there is no resulting increase in the bill amount, as the fee is being separated from the current base rates,” the Water Authority said in a press release on Tuesday.
The Statutory Fee is being introduced through the Water Authority (Amendment) Regulations, 2021, which was gazetted on January 20, 2021.
The Authority said its statutory functions have historically been funded from the Authority’s utility revenue and royalties.
However, in 2017, when new legislation transferred the Authority’s regulatory function for the water and wastewater sector to OfReg, it also included a statutory fee to fund the Authority’s statutory role.
“The statutory functions of the Authority are critical to the protection of groundwater resources for the present and future generations,” Water Authority Director Dr. Gelia Frederick van-Genderen said.
“By separating this fee from the current base water rates, the Authority can be transparent about the portion of water rates revenue used to fund these functions. Because the entire population has access to potable water, either from the pipeline or through trucked water, it was fair and equitable to cover the Statutory costs from a fee charged on all water consumption,” she explains.
Water Authority water customers will see the statutory fee, $0.22 per cubic meter, reflected in the “New Charges” and the “Consumption Details” section of their bill.
The statutory fee will be reflected on water customers' bills only and not on sewerage and septage customers. Future adjustments to the statutory fee will be made simultaneously as base rate adjustments, using the same methodology, the Authority said.
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